Superman Analogue: Thor
43Mightier than any mortal, Thor, Norse God of Thunder, strikes a figure in dark blue with a crimson cape. A hero for even the greatest hero to look up to and for even the mightiest villains to fear.
Original Thread: https://twitter.com/CaseAiken/status/1086072823553044484
Original Text: Alright, we all knew this one was coming, because today is Thursday, the day of thunder, so in honor of that we're talking about Thor.
Thor is the ultimate expression of the take that Superman is a god who struggles to live like a man. He's Marvel's frontline red caped, blue clad flying strongman.
Thor's also a huge movie property now, so I'll give the following background: Thor is the Norse God of Thunder. His central lesson is about a powerful being discovering humility. Stories that pack that element tend to lose the point.
But in order for that to happen, Thor is quite a bit more powerful than the average Marvel superhero. Like he's really powerful, like world breaking powerful. On more than one occasion we've he's ascended to High Father, becoming one of the most powerful beings in the cosmos
He's also a brutish Viking. And a super advanced alien. He's pretty weird. Thor is the sneak preview for pretty much everything Jack Kirby would do after the 60s. And that means that there are a lot of settings you can put him in and have it work.
I mean there's a reason that Thor Ragnarok was such a hit movie. it was weird and crazy and out there and sci-fi and it still perfectly fit our resident elemental Barbarian.
I should also note that Jack Kirby really liked the mortal form transforming into Super form shtick. You see this later with Infinity Man and with The Demon, but all this traces back to Captain Marvel/Shazam.
And like some of these classic superheroes, he also has a Pantheon of allies. On top of the other Asgardians, he has a whole slew of Thor connected heroes.
Future versions, alien versions, female versions Thor has them all.
And even more so, he's had various forms. Recently his role was assumed by Jane Foster...
But he's also been turned into a frog
He's been made a cripple trapped inside a suit of armor
And had his own edgy, jacket wearing, 90s counterpart: Thunderstrike
However, unlike Superman, he's actually successfully had costumes changed from time to time
Not to say there weren't any clunkers
I mean...
Thor has had many versions, he has a deep lore in his own book, not to mention the greater real world mythology that he can draw upon for stories. It all comes together for a truly great pillar of superhero fantasy.
And Thor continues to be an exciting Marvel property about a hero always trying to do what's right in spite of his vast power. I'd recommend anyone interested in the character to dig up the Walt Simonson run, which has been collected in trades and start there.
From there, you can see how truly flexible and versatile the character is. And then you can move on to other great runs by guys like Dan Jurgens or Jason Aaron.
He's a central figure to almost every major Marvel story. If he's not a part of the story, then you can bet there's a point where they talk about how his absence affects the stakes.
He is, after all, Marvel's real answer to Superman.
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